The Power of Holding Reflective Space

Games have the capacity to change someone’s life for the better. An important part of designing for digital thriving is acknowledging that such a transformative experience is possible in any game and that we can design with those possibilities in mind.

Big takeaways

Games have the capacity to change players’ lives for the better — we can and should design them with that potential in mind.
Consider what headspace a player might bring to your game — they may be in a rough or difficult place.
Build space for player reflection through pacing, environment, and narrative.
We need more games that realize their potential for self-exploration and explicitly hold space for it.
A light touch is the best approach for these efforts. In game development, while you can aim higher and bigger, it is often wiser to be scope conscious.

What is holding space?

We’ve likely all experienced a moment in a game that has changed our life for the better — it might be why you now choose to make games. Likely, the games that have pulled off this feat in your experience weren’t designed around or narratively focused on improving your life. The game was just there at the right moment, and it was the right fit.

As developers we can — and should — approach the games that we design with an aim to encourage and facilitate these moments when they do occur by holding reflective space for players — that is, designing moments that prioritize the player’s mental state and provide a moment to rest and reflect.

A simple awareness of the possibility and a willingness to devote a very small amount of your game’s scope to designing deliberate moments is all you need to begin.

Photograph of a video game shown as a painting in a museum. — Games are art — and good art isn’t just about constant challenge, constant play, constant attention; people experiencing art need time to reflect on it. Image courtesy of gremlin.

What does holding space look like?

There are many ways to hold space for players. Some of these moments will be extremely brief and shallow, like a reminder to drink fluids, while other examples can encompass entire chapters of a game. Some games are entirely centered around the premise and promise of holding space for the player to reflect (such as Kind Words, Spiritfarer, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between).

Beyond efforts to help players meet basic needs, one of the most important things you can do is give players ways to contend with the game / story thus far:

Screenshot from Undertale — Looking in the mirror while visiting a safe place. *Undertale.* Image courtesy of Silverstring Media.

Pacing — Consider the pacing of the experience. Are there moments of rest and reflection between major action? Do players have a chance to breathe?
Environment — Certain types of locations are more conducive to reflection. Liminal spaces and journeys between destinations are ripe for moments of thought and letting the mind wander. Waiting rooms, on the other hand, might be too tense with anticipation.
Words — Use the narrative or dialogue with in-game characters to explicitly ask the player how they feel or to take a moment to reflect.
Separation — Look for opportunities to create separation from the main flow of your game, whether natural downtime that already exists or spaces intentionally carved out from the primary gameplay.
- Games already create distinct play spaces, though the degree of separation from the real world varies depending on the game and its context. Intentionally creating additional separation within those spaces is the best way to encourage players to engage with these moments of heightened reflection and emotional impact.

As an example, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between is explicitly about these liminal moments. It takes players on long, comforting nighttime journeys and asks them to consider their place, their mental state, and their thoughts.

Screenshot from Glitchhikers — In *Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between*, characters explore various existential topics, and ask the player how they feel about them. Image courtesy of Silverstring Media.

Players come back to it when they’re feeling restless and craving a kind of comforting experience that they can’t quite articulate. (See: Holding Space in Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between)

Considering player mindset

Consider what headspace a player might be in when they come to your game. Many may come for excitement or challenge, but a full third of gamers play to be comforted by something familiar (2021 Essential Facts About the Video Game Industry).

No matter the genre, players may come to your game during a difficult time in their lives. And of course, even players not in crisis can benefit from a chance to breathe and reflect. It’s important that developers acknowledge these possibilities.

For some people, playing a game is already how they take time to reflect and recenter. For others it is a method of escaping their problems and maybe even their body. As humans, however, we’re all saddled with a need to maintain our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Games can help facilitate these efforts.

The simplest execution of this consideration is the reminder: “Remember to hydrate!” (An overture that has become common enough in games to have become a bit of a meme itself!)

Screenshot from Mass Effect — In *Mass Effect*, Garrus reminds the player to stay hydrated (*Mass Effect: Remastered*). Image courtesy of TIGG.

But this can go far beyond just keeping your players hydrated.

Ask yourself:

How can you acknowledge and support players who might be in a tough place?
- How might you know your player is struggling, and how can you give them the tools to alert the game or other players in their community?
- Are there support organizations and tools that might be relevant to your game’s content and / or audience?
What would it be like if your player made this game part of their support system or an important self-soothing ritual?
What messages would be most inspiring or helpful to give to receptive players?
- How can you make these messages dismissable (or toggleable) for players who don’t appreciate them?
How might you approach your players and offer them support in-game that would feel appropriate given the genre, narrative, and gameplay of your project?
- For multiplayer games, how might your game facilitate players supporting one another emotionally or offer helpful reminders to take care of themselves physically?

While considerations of player well-being and pro-social behavior are often focused on multiplayer games, single player games can — and should — also contribute to inspiring greater well-being in players by creating these kinds of inclusive spaces. Small, niche, and highly experimental games have a place in this conversation as well.

big idea Introduction to Values in Gaming

Values are the heart of game design. They influence how players experience your game and the kind of community it fosters.

The value of these experiences

Experiences that hold space for player reflection are valuable to have within games. Dr. Rachel Kowert, Research Director at Take This, says:

“The industry truly needs more innovative projects that explicitly seek to create psychologically safe spaces for players to explore and understand themselves in. […] It is an innovative step towards normalizing mental health and self-exploration.”

big idea Psychological Safety For Players

Psychological safety is a sense of security that encourages players to fully engage with a game and its community.

However, while some players may find the application of these ideas therapeutic, it’s important to note that we are not therapists, and we do not believe that games like this can ever be a replacement for therapy.

That said, when players find these spaces at the right time, we know the positive effects it can have.

Screenshot of a Kotaku article praising Glitchhikers — Writer Nathan Grayson found *Glitchhikers* at a particularly difficult time. Image courtesy of Silverstring Media.

Over the years, Glitchhikers: First Drive and Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between continually receive feedback that the games were able to intervene in a particularly difficult time in players’ lives and left them feeling better off. We know that it has helped some players process their lives and move forward with more confidence.

Screenshot from Life is Strange — In her review, Saving Kate and Saving Myself in *Life is Strange*, the author Holly Green saw her own experience reflected in the character, Kate: “Tearing through that crowd in slow motion again, it felt like I was rushing up those stairs to save myself.” Image courtesy of Paste.

What does good look like?

Your success at applying these methods will only be proven out once players have made contact with the game, whether in playtesting or after release. Look for:

Player feedback and impact statements in reviews.
How the game is being interpreted in community discussions.
Engagement with user-generated content and fan content.
Time spent by players in reflective spaces, or completion of relevant activities / engagement with those features.

Prior to direct engagement with players, consider also the value of partnering with researchers to test assumptions and set up metrics for measuring the impact and success of these ideas.

Final thoughts

Games can tell important stories and explore important truths. We should consider explicitly holding space for the player to reflect on those things and approach our games with the understanding that players may not be looking for a transformative experience — but might find one nonetheless.